The Center for Biological Diversity released video showing the first ever footage of an American jaguar. Turns out, he lives in Arizona!
The camera project is part of ongoing efforts to monitor mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona for endangered jaguar and ocelot. Chris Bugbee, a biologist with Conservation CATalyst, has been collecting data on the Santa Rita jaguar for the past three years (formerly through the University of Arizona).
“Studying these elusive cats anywhere is extremely difficult, but following the only known individual in the U.S. is especially challenging,” said Bugbee. “We use our specially trained scat detection dog and spent three years tracking in rugged mountains, collecting data and refining camera sites; these videos represent the peak of our efforts.”
The jaguar has been named El Jefe (“the boss,” en español) and lives in the Santa Rita mountains, about 25 miles away from downtown Tucson.
“Jaguars have always occurred in Arizona and yet we know so little about them in the northern portion of their range. Arizona should be poised to harbor and protect both jaguars and ocelots as they continue to disperse out from Sonora,” said Bugbee.
Arizona’s Governor Doug Ducey has yet to make an unfulfilled promise to keep this immigrant out of Arizona.
You can watch the short video, of three different sightings of El Jefe, on the organization’s Facebook page.